Barzin Akhavan, a busy Iranian-American actor, has appeared in numerous plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as on and off Broadway, and in TV shows and films. He doesn’t seem to ever stop working.
Behfarmaheen (If You Please), a heartfelt one-person show that he wrote and currently performs at the Thomas Theatre, is the last one in a collection of four solo shows this season, all created by outstanding actors who lay bare their personal and professional lives to appreciative audiences. From a practical standpoint, the shows are helping to stretch the budget for larger productions during this period of economic recovery.
But not too surprisingly, these plays that reveal so much about the actors’ artistic journeys, have turned out to be among my favorites this year. So thank you, Barzin, for sharing your iconic immigration story.
With the sensitive direction of Desdemona Chiang, Barzin’s pal since college, we are able to experience his ups and downs as a young child learning English and how to succeed at school. It seems to be an equal balance of studying hard, and working to become the funniest kid on the playground.
When he grows up, despite his father’s inevitable dream of a doctor-lawer-engineer son, he is destined to study theater. He builds a career for himself that includes not only hilarious comedy, but entrancing story-telling, including Persian sagas such as Scheherazade and the 1001nights. This is a show that will unleash your emotions, like Aladdin rising out of his lamp.
